Missing Wallpapers

Help !!

I am running WinXP Home and have a nice big collection of wallpapers .. in fact the whole contents of "My Pictures" (which is in the "My Documents" folder).

When I want to change from one wallpaper to the other, I usually just R Click on an empty Desktop space to select "Properties" then next select "Desktop" - from where I can scroll through the lot of them to choose which one I want to be my current wallpaper.

However, when I just went to do that and selected "Desktop" there was only one picture there !!

Can anyone tell me how to get them all back, please ??

[They are all still there in "My Pictures".]

Thanks.

Mad

I haven't used XP in so many years, I've forgotten how to do this. In the meantime, why don't you go to My Pictures, find the wallpaper you want, right click on it and choose "set as desktop background?"

Hi Draclvr

Thanks, but "set as desktop background" doesn't come up as an option if I right click on any of my pictures.

It's a mystery. Everything was normal yesterday !!

Cheers.

Mad

Oh, dear! I have no idea! Everything I found mentions a bunch of changes to the registry. Have you tried a System Restore?

I'm hoping someone might come up with a less drastic solution than a system restore as I don't want to "lose" stuff that I've done recently

I hope so too!

Check this article out - The Desktop tab does not appear in the Display Properties dialog box in Windows XP

Thanks, InlandAZ, but I am way too nervous to go registry fiddling

That's the same stuff I found, Mad. A System Restore shouldn't delete anything you've done recently.

Thank you but I think I'll wait until My Son in Law can call round, Draclvr

I've found I can still "eventually" change wallpapers if I browse to My Pictures once I'm in the Display Properties box.
It's just a much more long-winded route than having them all already there in the box to scroll through as they were before.

The only "different" thing I've done, from when the situation was normal to how it is now, is download The Dark Eye game from The Adventure Shop.

But I can't see why doing that should have impacted on my wallpaper access

Mad, are you able to change wallpaper following the steps here?

This method changes wallpaper going into the Control Panel.

That IS the procedure I always use, Homer6, but the "background list" suddenly disappeared a couple of days ago ....

And it's that list I'm hoping to recover.

Mad,I think you should do a restore when your wallpapers were ok. I've done a lot of restore and never deleted anything.
Richard

Do you perhaps utilize a picture viewer , such as Picasa or Irfanview ? Both programs I just mentioned have the ability to set desktop wallpapers .

Are you saying it doesn't "remember" the location of the picture you choose anymore? It should "remember" the location of the last picture you chose and automatically open that same location the next time you open Display Properties\Display Tab.

If it insists on going back to the same location as that one picture every time, a workaround would be to copy all your pictures and paste them in the same folder as that one.

Hi

kjos .. Yes. I might resort to a system restore if all else fails.

Jenny100

"Mad, if you know where your pictures are (if you keep them all in one folder), can you click the Browse button the the Display tab and browse to the location where your pictures are? For example, mine are in
C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\My Documents\Wallpapers"

That's exactly what I'm having to do now but I didn't have to do before.
The whole of "My Pictures" used to be shown as "the background list" without having to browse to it.
It DOES remember the last picture I browsed to and set as wallpaper. But only that one. And all my pictures are already in the same folder as that one.

Creeping_Doom .. I don't use any picture viewers.

[I'm sure I'm starting to repeat myself now !! ]

Cheers.

Mad

Are your pictures in one of the folders listed on this page?
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/background.htm

Another thing you could try is this:

No Mad, that link I gave says to go into the Control Panel and open Display. What you've been doing is making the changes directly from the desktop. There's a big difference between the two procedures.

Right clicking on an empty spot on your desktop opens another window. Going to the Control Panel requires you to go to Start and choosing Control Panel. Then clicking on the Display icon within the Control Panel.

Don't both methods get you that same Desktop/Display Window with the tabs, Homer6?

No harm in trying to get to it that way, but I don't see why it would make a difference.

I had answered your question Jenny but didn't post my reply because I remembered I still had my old computer with XP on it. Yes, you are correct. The same window will come up going either way. The reason I suggested going through the Control Panel is that whatever is affecting right clicking on an empty spot on the desktop might not affect going through the Control Panel.

Mad, here is another MS support help page.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/921049

Here is a forum page I found where the writer has/had a similar problem. Look at post 5.

http://www.techtalkz.com/software-troubleshooting/4497-missing-desktop-background.html

Mad, it does look like you or someone will have to look at the registry to make sure the desktop settings to change wallpaper hasn't been changed. From the little I've read it sounds like a setting has been changed to lock the current wallpaper, which is why no other choices are appearing. The MS support topic mentioned the registry being locked.

"Open the Control Panel, Display Properties, Desktop tab, click the Customize Desktop button, click the Web tab in the Desktop Items window. Disable the the active desktop by unchecking anything in the window and then hit Synchronize. "

Hi Jenny100
The only thing showing in that window is "My Current Home Page" but it is not checked.
[It's greyed out.]
________________

"From the little I've read it sounds like a setting has been changed to lock the current wallpaper, which is why no other choices are appearing."

Hi Homer6
I'm not messing with the registry. I'll just have to wait until my Son in Law can call round.
In the meantime I can still access other wallpapers by using the browse access so I'll make do with that.

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